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HUPFELD HISTORY

A Brief Look at the History of Hupfeld

Hupfeld grew to become the world's largest distributor and manufacturer of "self-playing" automatic musical instruments, eventually producing a wide variety of disc, pinned-barrel and music roll operated music machines in its own immense factories. Some of the automated orchestras crafted were spectacularly large and very complex devices. While other contemporary large and well known manufacturers of "automatics," such as the Regina Music Box Company, Seeburg or Wurlitzer, could boast an employee count well into the hundreds, Hupfeld, in sharp contrast, had a contingent of employees numbering in the thousands.

However, the company of Ludwig Hupfeld, A.G., at one time famous for its stunning array of finely built products, did not start out big, nor even with the Hupfeld name. Sometime around 1880 to 1882 a fellow by the name of J.M. Grob, along with two partners, founded J.M. Grob & Company, opening a small "art shop" in Leipzig-Eutritzsch, Germany. The new company sold various mechanical musical instruments, such as disc music boxes and small hand-cranked lorgnette's, but soon began manufacturing its own stable of mechanical instruments, which were marketed in the company's shop, alongside products from other companies. By 1886 an attachment for automatically playing pianos and organs, using paper tune-sheets, had been perfected. Other advantageous refinements to the automatic player action quickly followed, with the ingenious Grob player action being licensed to other manufacturers for incorporation into their own products.

In time Grob & Company acquired the distributorship of many prominent musical instrument manufacturers in the Leipzig area, making Grob a well known entity for both sales and mechanical music innovation. Then, in 1892, Ludwig Hupfeld took over the company, changing the name to Hupfeld Musikwerke, although the Grob name was still used in advertising up until about 1900. Push-up players and pianos with pneumatic mechanisms and music roll systems located under the keyboard were added to the line. As sales and production soared the company enlarged its manufacturing facilities many times, but, with each expansion, it quickly outgrew the newly added space. In 1904, to meet the financial demands necessary to maintain and further expand their manufacturing requirements, the company was incorporated under the name Ludwig Hupfeld A.G.

To keep up with the demand for automatic music, an enormous factory was put under construction in 1909. Finished in 1911, the giant Böhlitz-Ehrenberg factory, with its imposing tower (depicted in the logo above), was opened, becoming the impressive new home for Hupfeld. The new factory measured approximately 1,000,000 square feet in area, and contained several different manufacturing areas, kitchens and dining rooms, washrooms, as well as elaborate social facilities, all under one roof. By 1912 some 1200 employees manned the sparkling new factory, a number that climbed to over 2000 a few years later. Additionally, there were many other Hupfeld employees, too, staffing various branch factories and sales outlets.

By 1925 automatic instrument sales had slumped to a mere trickle, the complicated and often temperamental music machines being replaced by the phonograph and the radio. In 1926, in an effort to stave off the financial problems suffered due to the lack of automatic musical instrument sales, Hupfeld merged with Gebr. Zimmermann, a piano manufacturer, and the name was changed to Leipziger Pianoforte & Phonolafabriken, Hupfeld-Gebrüder Zimmermann A.G. After the merger with Zimmermann most of the branch factories and sales outlets were closed, leaving only the large factory at Böhlitz-Ehrenberg and two small branch factories still at work.

Production of pneumatic automatic musical instruments stopped altogether about 1930, with a little residual stock remaining available for the next few years. Music roll production ceased about 1934. Then, as the Nazi presence expanded into World War II the factory was converted into a manufacturing complex for military goods. This made the old Hupfeld factory a strategic target, the Böhlitz-Ehrenberg building suffering from some bomb damage, with the most heavily damaged areas of the complex being razed instead of being rebuilt. After the war, what remained of the once huge factory was put back into music related manufacturing. But this time it was just ordinary pianos that were to be manufactured, something that continues to this present day, under the new name of VEB Deutsche Piano Union. During and after the war any remaining traces of the glorious days of automatic instrument making were destroyed and forever erased from what remained of the once grand Hupfeld empire.

Although a small number of Hupfeld instruments were distributed in this country, by Ernst Böcker of New York City, for instance, few of these US sold machines exist today. Ironically, the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, who could have made the Hupfeld instruments famous in the United States, and who wanted to do so, was not able to arrange a distributorship with Hupfeld. Farny Wurlitzer, one of Rudolph Wurlitzer's three sons, first learned about Hupfeld machines while attending the 1902 Leipzig trade-fair during a visit to Germany. Farny approached the Hupfeld management regarding a distributorship in America. The proposal might have come to pass, except for the Wurlitzer's insistence that Farny be allowed to work in the Hupfeld factory for six months to learn all about the construction, care and maintenance of the various machines. Hupfeld was reluctant to allow this, probably assuming Farny would steal their trade secrets, and sent the Wurlitzer's to the J.D. Philipps Musikwerke in Frankfurt, Germany, advising them that maybe Philipps would accommodate them.

Philipps eventually agreed to the terms of the Wurlitzer management, and the large Philipps Pianella cabinet style orchestrion's became known in America as The PianOrchestra, with the later Paganini type Pianella instruments being known as Paganini Violin Players and Orchestrion's.

During the middle to late 1920's interest in automatic music declined precipitously, so much so that in 1928 Hupfeld decided to stop all production of pneumatic instruments, although the manufacture of some items continued on for several years later, until parts and supplies on hand were finally exhausted. Thus, this Phonoliszt-Violina, manufactured circa 1924, is probably one of the last few such instruments made by Hupfeld.

As was the case with automatic musical instruments manufactured during the mid to late 1920's, many mechanical improvements over their earlier brethren were evident. Adjustable bleeds, perfect for fine tuning the operation of the instrument, were now standard for the main valve chest, replacing the almost universally used fixed bleed; and a new style expression device using a curtain valve arrangement further enlivened the piano realism. Another major improvement in later machines were quieter feeder pumps, along with the less noisy associated mechanical drives. The case size was adjusted somewhat, too, enabling it to accommodate standardized and more easily maintained components.

But whatever the real story behind the unusually ornate casework for this instrument, it still remains a complete mystery. It is known, however, that various manufacturers, including Hupfeld, would make modified and/or custom cases when so requested and ordered. But whether Hupfeld did that actual case modifications to this particular machine is up for debate. Whatever happened, however, the casework modifications and added ornamentation are definitely very old, perhaps as old or nearly as old as the basic instrument itself.

Circa 1990
The Old Man Johann, Ansgaruth, Germany.

There are currently two divergent stories regarding the origin of the special casework styling. The first story begins by way of Freddie Kunzle and Hayes McClaran. Freddie Kunzle had heard about a Hupfeld Phonoliszt-Violina located in Ansgaruth, Germany, which is a very small village way out in the country in what had just six months earlier been a part of East Germany. Hays McClaran (a restoration expert from the United States) was visiting Freddie at the time, so as to assist him with a few days work, helping in the completion of some work on a large Hupfeld II/33 Helios Orchestrion. The Hupfeld had been shipped to Lichtensteig, Switzerland, where all of the basic pneumatic restoration work had supposedly been finished, and the machine then reassembled. However, upon arrival, the giant Hupfeld lay scattered about the workshop. Thus, it was one month later, after Hayes had reassembled and regulated the big Orchestrion when he, along with his wife, and Freddie were finally ready to take the long automobile journey out into the country to Ansgaruth, to visit Johann, a man who was described as being very, very old. Johann, it was discovered, lived in a stone hut, with the Phonoliszt-Violina stored in a back room that was approximately 5 feet side by 10 feet long. It is unknown how long Johann had owned the machine, or where he got it, but it was said that he had it in his possession for a long, long time.

According to the old man Johann, as the story goes, Freddie and Hays were told that the custom case was made because the instrument was to be displayed at some kind of industrial exposition to be held in Turin, Italy. This claim cannot be confirmed, so it is anybody's guess whether there is any truth to it, or not. But the mystery deepens, because the special brass inlay near the bottom of the roll-case reads as follows:

Hof Pianoforte-Fabrikant -- (unknown emblem) -- Sr.K.K.H.d.Kronprinzen.

The first part, roughly translated, means: Piano Makers to the King. So, then, who is the Kronprinzen (crown prince) mentioned prominently in brass inlay to the right of the center emblem? And why would such inlay work designating royalty be used on an instrument destined for an industrial exposition?

Circa 1990
Siegfried Wendel, Germany.

Freddie Kunzle inspected but did not buy the Phonoliszt-Violina, instead procrastinating, perhaps planning to go back later and purchase the instrument. However, in the meantime, Siegfried Wendel learned of the old man's Phonoliszt-Violina and he, too, wanted to buy it. According to Hays McClaran, Siegfried won the Phonoliszt-Violina battle when the old man Johann died, Siegfried shipping the instrument to his shop in Rudesheim am Rhein, Germany.

Siegfried has a very different story regarding the history of the instrument, claiming that the case was sent out for customizing after the machine was purchased from Hupfeld. The added ornamentation, he says, allowed the instrument to match the decor of café Bauer, a famous Berlin establishment during the 1920's. This version of the Phonoliszt-Violina's history has not been confirmed.

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